It is known to process or treat water for a variety of purposes. Common water processing mechanisms are known, examples of which are ion exchange systems and filtration systems, or more specifically, cation exchange systems and dealkalizers, as well as carbon or chlorine filters and particulate filters. For instance, in areas where water supplied from a well or a utility main line is particularly hard (e.g., has a high quantity of hard water ions, such as calcium or magnesium ions), it may be desirable to soften the water by removing the hard water ions (e.g., calcium and magnesium ions) and replacing them with soft water ions (e.g., sodium ions), often through the use of a cation exchange water softener.
One type of traditional cation exchange water softener utilizes resin beads that are saturated with soft water ions. The hard water is passed over or around the resin beads, allowing the soft water ions to replace the hard water ions in the water. That is, the hard water ions will have become bound to the resin beads, while the soft water ions have been released from the resin beads and dispersed into the water. Eventually, the resin beads become saturated with hard water ions, i.e., most of the soft water ions associated with the resin beads have been exchanged for hard water ions. As the number of soft water ions associated with the resin beads decreases, with the resin beads becoming saturated with hard water ions, the resin beads become less effective at removing (e.g., stripping) the hard water ions from the water and replacing them with soft water ions.
Similar analogies can be made to other ion exchange and filtering devices for water. A regeneration process is periodically applied to the resin beads to remove the accumulated hard water ions from the resin beads and to resupply the resin beads with soft water ions. During the regeneration process, the hard water ions are stripped from the resin beads and soft water ions are again bound to the resin beads. A known method of regenerating the resin beads is to pass a saturated salt water (brine) solution (e.g., water that is saturated with soft water ions) over/around the resin beads. The soft water ions in the brine solution displace the hard water ions on the resin beads and become associated with the resin beads. The freed hard water ions are then discharged with the remaining salt water/brine solution from a drain outlet of the water softener into the building's wastewater system.
The above-outlined examples of a regeneration cycle for a cation exchange water softener, while necessary for the proper maintenance and operation of the example cation exchange water softener, may generate significant maintenance expenses for an end user of the example cation exchange water softener. One such expense is the periodic replacement of a source of soft water ions. Typically, the end user will need to purchase sodium salt blocks, solar salt and/or pellets that are used to generate the salt water or brine solution used during the above-outlined regeneration cycle. Similar expenses and cycles occur in other ion exchange and filter systems.
Another cost associated with the above-outlined regeneration cycle relates to the volume of water used by the example cation exchange water softener during the regeneration cycle. Whether the water used by the example cation exchange water softener comes from a well, a utility main line, or any other source, there may be inherent expenses associated with supplying and/or disposing of that water. In the case of a well, there may be costs related to operating a water pump to draw the water from the well. These costs can include, for example, electricity used to operate the pump, maintenance/replacement costs during the life span of the pump and expenses associated with drilling the well to further depths to reach a sustainable water table. In the case of water from a utility main line, there may be utility costs based on the volume of water supplied through the utility main line. Furthermore, regardless of the source of the water, there may be costs associated with disposing of that water, such as, for example, sewer costs, septic tank costs and the like. Additionally, these water expenses may be conditional on local, environmental issues, such as droughts, water caps and water usage restrictions (e.g., by volume or time of day).
Accordingly, systems, apparatus and methods are provided for reclaiming water that has been discharged during a cycle of a water processing system.